the weekend is over now it's monday:(

I had a great time this weekend and so did Deuce! He got to play with lots of other dogs and people. I did not take him around too much as I did not want to get in trouble because he is very obviously not 6 months old per AKC rules but he had tons of people and bring him presents and come visit him. Agility friends really are the best friends someone could have! This puppy has more toys and treats now than any puppy I know! Sherry brought Axel, Deuce's brother on saturday so all day deuce and axel got to roll around in the crate and play and sleep. Sherry was so nice and brought me a whole bag of rawhide chewies that Deuce loves and a she also brought a whole roll of poop bags! Thanks Sherry! The boys did so well, not making noise unless they needed to go potty. They would go out and roll around and wrestle and then poop themselves out! They both pottied pretty much on command which is so nice for a show puppy to do. I think Deuce had an accident in his crate a couple of times when we weren't paying close enough attention but crate pads are for washing anyway. Barb did some work with Deuce on his sit and we all played with him and his rabbit tug and other various toys. He didn't seemed phased by any of the noise and hubub of the show. We did cover him the first day but after his initial screaming in the crate, he only made noise when he needed to go out and I will take that. There were some very loud barky bostons next to us and he didn't care at all. Even when dogs in the ring were very loud and barky he would watch but didn't seem to care. We were near the warm up jump as well and that didn't bother him either. He seems to have fallen into the cycle of the show very well, understanding that we go into the crate in the car, drive somewhere, get out and play for a minute then back to the crate while mom and dad walk the courses and then periodic play and sleep throughout the day. I can't wait to take him to some out of town shows to see how he handles those as well. We have a show in Lincoln NE in a couple of weeks so should be fun road-tripping with four dogs! Really need to find someone to watch over berry so she doesn't have to go and sit in a crate for three days. We did purchase yet another wire crate (can you ever have enough of those) so we could put the one with the side door in the car so deuce harley and miller had a car crate, a show crate and a night crate. We should buy stock in wire crate companies! Harley also got a new show crate because tony wanted us to match LOL, instead of using the cheap crate I normally put Harley in. My thought is that if he is going to tear a crate up, might as well be cheap and I had the puppy in the wire crate.

Am really stepping up training as Deuce seems to be wanting to learn now and is settled. We are walking on shaping/clicker training sit, off, here (touch my hand), and interaction with the balance disc including front feet on, back feet on, and all feet on. I need a bigger balance disc and need something more stationary for him to work with as well. I need to start working with the plank as well and asking for feet and toes on it as well. He is so funny as he never wants to quit and will bark at me like, "I AM NOT DONE YET". We are also working on banging the teeter down and running through the channel weaves. He seems to work the best in the morning but hate to load his stomach up with treats and then leave him to have to be in his ex-pen all day. He is still screaming when I put him in his ex-pen so need to work on that as well. I am thinking I might put him in a big wire crate with a litter box instead since he likes his crate now but may get the same results. Just don't know want him developing any separation anxieties. Have been putting him in while I am at home and that doesn't really work either as he still screams. His potty training is going really well, mostly using either his litter box in the ex-pen or going outside. He is very vocal so he tells you when he is ready to go outside and we have bells on our door to bell train too. Harley and Miller are now playing with him more which is good but still get grumpy sometimes which is also fine. Miller has been acting out a little by eating things he knows are off limits like a whole bag of treats that James gave us, and a whole bag of beef jerky that tony bought in Oklahoma. Overall, I think things are improving with our pack. Deuce very clearly prefers me to tony but still loves tony, but wants to be wherever I am most of the time. Leash training is going good too and speaking of that, it is time for our walk. Deuce did sleep the entire night so looks like we may be able to go 8 hours now without a potty break if we are worn out. Might have to go out tonight since he won't get as much exercise but he will get to go with me to my private lesson tonight so that will wear him out slightly!